1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a device for the implementation of minimally invasive diagnoses and interventions in the inside of the body of a patient, having a carrier head that preferably carries measurement instruments and/or instruments for obtaining a specimen and/or for treatment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, such minimally invasive diagnoses and interventions in the inside of the body are implemented with the assistance of rigid or flexible endoscopes, laparoscopes or catheters. These techniques are characterized by the forces required for the navigation of the carrier head in the body being exerted from the outside by the surgeon's hand. This technique encounters implementation limits for, among other things, applications in the small intestine, which is 7 to 11 meters long in adults.
A method disclosed in PCT Application WO 00/60996 yields only a slight improvement in this context, whereby the tip of the catheter is steered into the desired direction at intersections of the vessels or openings by an external magnetic field. In this case, as well, there is the problem of the long extent of the device and the problem of manual application of force for the navigation. When many curves and branchings must be traversed in this case, and such high friction ultimately occurs so that a displacement over greater distances is no longer possible at all.
German OS 100 28 078 discloses an endoscope that can be completely swallowed and that comprises two bendable parts and one flexible part. Drive wires lying in the parts are heated via electromagnetic signals by means of an external control device, causing the drive wires to subsequently bend. The parts thus can follow a curvature of the body cavity.